


worth

by Queen_of_Moons67



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Akayona Week (Akatsuki no Yona), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 15:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30057258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_of_Moons67/pseuds/Queen_of_Moons67
Summary: In which Tae-jun helping Yona has more serious, immediate consequences for Tae-jun himself.
Relationships: Kan Tae-Jun & Yona
Kudos: 2





	worth

Tae-jun looked up at the thud of boots on stone, but didn’t jump to his feet. He had made that mistake the first time—and the second, and the third. None of the people visiting him in Kuuto’s prison had been his brother or Heuk-chi, and it had just made the guards laugh.

Kye-sook hadn’t laughed, though.

Kye-sook had looked him in the eye, and kept looking at him even as a guard had entered the room, chained Tae-jun to the bars, and began whipping him. Kye-sook had looked at him, at the blood pooling down his skin and the tears on his cheeks, and hadn’t said a word till he ordered the guard to stop. Then he had just… left. No questions about Yona-hime, nothing about Tae-jun’s loyalty, not a word to even hint at what the whipping was for.

That had been more than two meals ago.

Now, as Tae-jun listened to the boots drawing closer, he tried to figure out if he knew the footsteps. Were they smooth, like Kye-sook’s? How many seconds were there between each thud? How many had there been before?

And then the key clanged in the lock, and Tae-jun looked up into his brother’s face.

“Kyo-ga!” Tae-jun cried, getting to his feet as fast as his wounds allowed and half-lunging, half-falling to grasp at the bars. “What are you doing here?”

“Setting you free,” he said gruffly.

Unlike Kye-sook, he hadn’t looked at Tae-jun once. His eyes were on the bars, the guard, the key unlocking the cell—anything but Tae-jun.

“You’re lucky King Soo-won decided to be merciful. Aiding an enemy of Kouka like that… do you ever think, Tae-jun?”

For a moment, Tae-jun bit his tongue—and then he blurted, “I did think!” His brother’s gaze whipped to him, eyes widening, and Tae-jun told him, “I did think! For once in my life, I thought! I weighed the consequences, the benefits, the—the _good_ that would come from my interference, and Yona-hime’s, and I found them worthy.”

_Yona-hime is worthy_ , he thought, looking Kyo-ga in the eye. _I am worthy._

“Tae-jun…” His brother looked him up and down, nose wrinkling but hand gentle when he grasped Tae-jun’s arm and helped him from the cell. “Let’s get you some proper clothes and a doctor. We can discuss your actions later.”

“We will discuss them?” Tae-jun panted, wounds flaring with every step. “Kyo-ga?”

His brother only hummed, eyes once again focused anywhere but Tae-jun, and Tae-jun breathed in a shaky breath. Yona-hime wouldn’t give up. She wouldn’t want _him_ to give up. Not for her own benefit, but for Tae-jun.

_I am worthy_. _I can take care of my people._

“We will discuss this,” Tae-jun declared. “At dinner.”

That should give him enough time to summon Heuk-chi and prepare. It was time they did more than just help with farming.


End file.
